The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1887-03-02

and risk the consequences. He does
not know any better How is he to
be informed of his real condition !;
and how is he to be delivered from
this bondage .? Let a !iving example
of temperance exemplifed in you,
full Of Christian sympathy, give him
courage and hope Take hold Of
him and tear him away from his
idol, and bid him flee to the noun
tain Of refuge. Speed him on his
way. Go with him as did the angel
with Lot, show him, lead him and
help him to see with his own eyes
that the hills Of Zion yield a thou
sand sweets before we reach the
heavenly fields or walk the golden
streets. Some will doubtless fail to
see the fitness of these remarks. The
application is just this. The farmer
is in dilemma, he is in debt and in
trouble, his land is poor, his crops
are getting less and less remunera-
ting every year, his children are
growing up and he cannot see any
chance to properI y school them, he
is anxious for the future, he is dis
heartened and we'll nigh ready to
give up in despair. Many Of our
farm homes are as cold and dreary
as a pauper's grave, no posies, no
geraniums, no evergreens to right
en- up the scene; all is sad and lonely
and cheerless. And while such
scenes are common all over our land,
men and women, churches and mis-
slonary societies are spending mil
lions of dollars every year to send
hel p and comfort to China, Brazil
and the far off Islands of the sea.
Well, this may be all right, but in
the name of the Lord Of Hosts, let
us expend little of our time and
money on our own people! Can't
we do something to lessen the bur-
dens Of the common farmer, some
thing to make his daily toll easier,
his work more profitable, and his
life brighter and happier?
There are thousands of boys and
girls growing up among US to-day,
who will either be curse or bless
ing to the State. Which shall it be
You may teach the boys as much
grammar and philosophy and Eng
fish literature and cube-root as you
please, and all the co-sines and tan
gents and parabolic curves of the
colleges. You may teach analytic
chemistry to its highest perfection,
teach all the arts and sciences in
their widest scope and fullest eX-
tent; but if the boy does not know
how to Work, how to do something,
he is dead failure; aye more, he is
curse to the State. [ know college
graduates in North Carolina to-day
who are little better than professional
paupers. They do not know any
thing worth knowing, they are abso-
lutely worthless, unless to hold office
and be fed at public expense. They
are obtaining a living under false
| pretense and are thereby cheating
the devil out of the immediate fuel
necessary to keep the furnaces of
Sheol in running order. Turn them
over to his Majesty noao, while they
are fat on the hard earning of others.
An educated fool is the most hopeless
of all fools. Let me give you a case
in point. A distinguished Prof of
Natural Sciences, who lived in the
cultured city of Boston, and on Bea-
con street, too, at that, the Boulevards
Of the western hemisphere, this man
was on the street one day when a
sudden shower Of rain began to fall,
but fortunately he had an umbrella
with him and strange to say he had
sense enough to open it; but mark
you what happened when he arrived
at his own door He endeavored
earnestly and faithfully to get in out
of the rain, and would you believe
it, he and that umbrella would not
90 into that door both at the same
time. He tried it endways, side
ways, edgeways, crossways and in
every way possible to get that
obstinate umbrella in through that
doorway, but go it wouldn't. For
tunately laborer in the street see
ing the terrible dilemma into which
the philosopher had fallen, called
to him and said, suppose you try
shutting it up" and as sure as fate that
incOrripible umbrella went in as